Electronic mailboxes are used to store electronic mail (email) messages. Electronic mailboxes are connected to the Internet to enable users to send and receive incoming and outgoing email messages. These mailboxes may also be extended to deliver email to mobile wireless communication devices via wireless networks. In the case of a corporation, electronic mailboxes are typically located on email servers at the corporation. On the other hand, mailboxes for small businesses or individuals are typically located on Internet service provider (ISP) email servers.
Mail user agents (MUAs) are applications which use a technique called polling to relay messages from the mail server to the mail program at a user's computer or mobile wireless communications device. A MUA is a program running either on a user's personal computing device (mobile or stationary), or on a shared email relay server that checks for new mail on behalf of a multitude of such users. More particularly, polling is the retrieval of incoming messages from other users at the mail server and delivery of these messages to the user's mailbox.
One problem that can arise with creating multiple copies of an email that a user can view either on a wireless email communications device as well as from other locations (e.g., from a desktop computer connected to the Internet) is that operations performed at one location may not necessarily translate to the other device. That is, it is sometimes difficult to reconcile operations by users performed on emails stored on an email server (e.g., corporate or ISP server) with the emails previously forwarded to the user's wireless email communications device, and vice-versa.
U.S. patent application publication no. 2006/0155310 is directed to a method for managing emails in a mobile terminal of a mobile email system. The mobile email system includes an email system and an email server coupled to a static terminal and in wireless communication with the mobile terminal. The static terminal has a folder-based data storage structure for storing emails received by a user of the static terminal. The email server is also configured to provide the received emails to the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal locally duplicates at least a portion of the state terminal folder-based data storage structure. The user is able to manage emails sent to a single address using the static and the mobile terminal. At the mobile terminal, a command is input from the user to move an email from a first of the local storage folder structure to a second folder of the local storage structure. The method further includes deleting the email from the local storage of the mobile terminal responsive to the user move command. The method further includes sending the move command from the mobile terminal to the email server.
While such systems may provide certain reconciliation advantages, further features may be desirable in some applications. This may be particularly so where it is desired to reconcile operations performed on emails at the email server with emails previously forwarded to a wireless email communications device.